


you can lift your head but you can't look down (everything you need is with you right now)

by reyesoflight



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, chloe and max actually kiss in episode 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-06 16:17:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5423666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reyesoflight/pseuds/reyesoflight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When their laughter finally dies down, Max’s sides and cheeks hurt and the both of them are panting heavily. Chloe’s kneeling on the bed and she just looks really beautiful with the early morning sunlight reflecting on her blue hair and making her eyes shine so bright. Max’s heart physically aches at how radiant she looks and Max wishes she could snap a picture of Chloe like this.</p><p>Or, the kiss in episode three isn't just a dare.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you can lift your head but you can't look down (everything you need is with you right now)

**Author's Note:**

> So I just finished this game a couple of days ago and this idea has been sitting in my head since I played episode 3. And here it is.  
> Title is from Rain by PVRIS and Love, Robot.

“You can afford to take chances! Whenever and whatever you want to try.” Chloe hesitates, just for a second, but goes back into full blown confidence and says, “For example I dare you to kiss me.”

It’s like time stops except it hasn’t because Max can control time and she’s positive she is not controlling anything at all because her head is stuck and all she can see is Chloe’s face in front of her with a challenging and captivating smile. And Max has got to the admit, Chloe’s lips look extra inviting at this moment. And Max can’t really think of anything so the first word that comes out of her mouth is “What?” and she’s sure she sounds so confused and insecure and god Chloe must think she’s stupid.

But Chloe is persistent and with certainty, “I double dare you.” She shakes her head in a reassuring manner. “Kiss me now.”

Chloe’s eyes bore into Max’s with this unnameable intensity and she can tell that in Chloe’s mind, she’s probably thinking, “Come on Max, I dare you, I dare you, I dare you.”

And Chloe looks so exquisite staring at Max like that with that expression on her face. Like maybe, just maybe, she wants this kiss as much as Max. So she goes for it because what the hell? It’s just a dare that doesn’t have to mean anything and if either of them are too uncomfortable with it Max could just go back in time right?

Before she can change her mind, she leans in and puts both her hands on Chloe’s shoulders. She has to stand on her toes to reach Chloe, something that would usually make her displeased, but she finds it hot when she has to kiss Chloe.

_It’s a dare, Max. Get it together. It’s not going to mean anything to Chloe._

Max’s first thought when their lips touch is how warm Chloe is. But before she can get used to the feeling and relish herself in it, Chloe pushes her off and literally jumps away, shocked etched on her face. She lifts her left hand up to her face as if she’s going to wipe Max off her lips, but decides against it and it awkwardly falls down to her side.

Max is kind of smug for surprising Chloe that much, but also feels disappointed that Chloe is so freaked out which in turn makes her feel angry because it was a fucking dare. Dares don’t mean anything. So why did Chloe freak out so much? She was the one who dared Max to kiss her in the first place after all.

In a shaky voice, Chloe attempts to brush off what just happened. “Damn, you’re hardcore, Max! Now I can text Warren and tell him he doesn’t stand a chance… unless he’s into girl on girl action.”

Max shakes off her disappointment for now. She can ponder over Chloe’s attempt at indifference later when she’s alone in her dorm. She pretends everything is fine and calls Chloe a dork as she watches Chloe roll her eyes and head back to her bed.

Just as she’s about to change, she takes a look at Chloe and she’s genuinely surprised. Her best friend is curled up on her bed and her breathing is heavier than normal. Max doesn’t really know what to say or do because she’s always known Chloe to be brave and confident. The only time she’s seen Chloe truly break down would be the day her dad died, but that was easier to handle because she knew why Chloe was upset that day and she had her heart on her sleeve. But right now she’s gripping her legs close to her chest and her head is buried in her knees with her heavy breathing and Max doesn’t understand why and her heart aches for her best friend.

Insecurity and doubt lacing her voice she asks, “Chloe... Are… are you okay?”

Chloe looks surprised at the sound of Max’s voice and immediately tries to compose herself, but her back is rigid and she doesn’t look as laid back as she usually does.

“Yeah Max? Aren’t you gonna change?” she tries to sound confident, but her eyes refuse to meet Max.

“Chloe, you look pale.” Max sits next to her and moves to put her hand on the small of Chloe's back, but changes her mind. “Is anything wrong?”

“No, Max.” Her voice is shaky even though she tries to cover it up. “Everything’s perfect.”

“You’re a shit liar, Chloe.”

Chloe is quiet for a while, tracing random patterns on her bed, lost in thought. Max is about to let it drop when she sighs and shakes her head. “Just didn’t think you’d actually do it?”

Max is stunned. Did her kiss really shock Chloe that much? Why is she even so affected by this? She was the one who dared Max in the first place.

She kinda feels bad for making Chloe uncomfortable, so she apologizes, “I’m really sorry, Chloe. I hope I didn’t… like mess anything up between us.” She takes a deep breath. “Let’s just forget this ever happened.”

A flash of anger and hurt passes Chloe’s face for just a second before she’s leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. There’s defeat in her voice. “Guess you’re just gonna rewind now, huh?”

Max releases a deep breath. She doesn’t actually feel comfortable rewinding when Chloe’s around without letting her know. Max decides that Chloe deserves that, being her best friend and the only person who knows about her powers and all. So she tries to explain it to Chloe.

“I, uh, don’t really feel comfortable rewinding without letting you know.” That gets Chloe’s attention and she raises her eyebrow. Max explains further. “It’s just that you’re my best friend and you know about my powers and I think it would be unfair to you if I knew all this stuff between us that you didn’t. Do you get it?”

Chloe nods and she looks relieved. “Yeah, I think I do.”

Max hesitates. “So, uh, do you want me to?”

“I don’t know.” Chloe looks away from Max. “Do _you_ want to rewind?”

Max clenches her fists and looks at Chloe, noticing that she has her fists clenched as well. For a long time, there’s only the sound of their breathing and a thick tension in the air before Chloe turns around to look at Max. For some reason she’s more relaxed now and Max wonders for a second if she might have accidentally travelled back to this morning before Chloe dared her for the kiss. But that’s not possible because Chloe still looks a bit worried and she’s not lying down on the bed like she was earlier this morning.

She looks straight into Max’s eyes and she notices some hope shimmering in the blue of Chloe’s eyes. “ _You don’t_ want to do it, do you? That’s why you’re asking me if I want you to rewind!”

Max looks down because yeah, Chloe is right. “Not really.”

Chloe grins at her like she did last night when she decided to take a midnight dip in the pool and very energetically moves around the bed so that she’s sitting right in front of Max. “Godamnit, Max. You hella wanted to kiss me!”

Max groans and blushes, which she figures confirms Chloe’s suspicions, because she’s suddenly lying on her stomach and looking at Max with such bright eyes. “So tell me, how long have you wanted to kiss me?”

Oh god. This can’t be happening. She’s probably fuelled Chloe’s ego so much and Chloe’s going to make fun of her for having a crush on her best friend for the rest of their lives.

_Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. I should have just rewinded but it’s too late now._

Her silence makes Chloe roll her eyes. “Come on, Super Max. I don’t blame you. Everyone wants my hot bod.”

“ _Chloe!_ ”

Chloe must sense Max’s discomfort or something because she grabs Max’s hand with her warm one and squeezes it. “Tell me, Max. Do you really like me?”

Max is quiet for a while and she looks into Chloe’s honest, inviting eyes. With a deep breath and a small nod, she lets out a very quiet and unsure “yes.”

Chloe’s grin widens and she holds Max’s hand tighter. “Well. Looks like the feelings mutual then.”

Max asks, just to be sure, hoping she doesn’t sound too eager, “Are you cereal?”

Laughter bubbles out of Chloe’s mouth as she grabs Max’s other hand. For a moment Max thinks that this was all a joke and that Chloe’s kidding and she’s going to be embarrassed about it for the rest of her fucking life.

“ _Yes_ , Max! I’m not joking around. I fucking swear that I hella like you too!” Max looks at Chloe’s face and it’s so full of unadulterated joy and hope that Max has no choice but to believe her.

_Okay then._

There’s a long moment of silence where they just look at each other. They both have huge grins and their eyes are shining. Max has butterflies in her stomach. Chloe’s genuine happiness makes Max more confident. Chloe has always been good for her. She knows how to take Max out of her shell and have her be herself around others. Chloe makes her a better person.

Max smirks and swings their hands. “Joyce mentioned bad boys. Nothing about girls.”

They both break down into uncontrollable laughter that fills the room with joy. Max is sure that the last time she laughed this much was when she and Chloe were just kids. Right now, they are both blissfully unaware of anything but each other. Their hands are not joined anymore, but their eyes have yet to leave each other’s.

When their laughter finally dies down, Max’s sides and cheeks hurt and the both of them are panting heavily. Chloe’s kneeling on the bed and she just looks really beautiful with the early morning sunlight reflecting on her blue hair and making her eyes shine so bright. Max’s heart physically aches at how radiant she looks and Max wishes she could snap a picture of Chloe like this without ruining the moment. Well, technically she can rewind but she really wants Chloe to remember everything that happened and like she’d said earlier, it feels unfair to rewind times like these with Chloe. She’ll have plenty of other chances to take shots of Chloe anyway.

Max gets on her knees too, leaning towards Chloe and she follows suit, a small smile on her face. Max heart is pounding in her chest. She can’t believe this is actually happening. If you told her five years ago that she’d be kissing her best friend one day, she’d have thought you were stupid.

It’s Max’s first kiss, unless you count the dare, and she’s horribly inexperienced. She tilts her head the wrong way and their foreheads bump together. Chloe pulls away a little and Max panics, thinking that she’s going to lose the urge to kiss Max for this. Instead, Chloe chuckles, places her left hand on the back of Max’s neck and presses a feather light kiss to her forehead, making the butterflies in Max’s stomach go crazy, and calls her a dork. Max giggles with her and they’re both leaning in again.

This time their lips brush and wow, Chloe’s lips are so soft and warm and gentle, making her shiver in anticipation. Her eyes are half lidded and she tastes a surprisingly sweet mixture of cigarettes, weed and mint flavored bubble gum that she’s seen Chloe chewing on sometimes.

Chloe starts tracing circles on Max’s neck, making her hum lightly and close her eyes. She feels Chloe smile against her lips. It’s when she brings up her right hand and places it on the small of her back does Max realize that her own hands are pressed awkwardly at her sides so she resolves to just put them on Chloe’s shoulders. She’s closer now and Chloe smells like a little bit of chlorine from their night at the pool, despite them taking a quick showers when they reached Chloe’s, and the fruity shampoo that Max used last night. There’s also a tinge of her cigarettes.

Max feels Chloe’s tongue lightly brush her bottom lip and she all but melts into a puddle of goo. Why hadn’t anyone told her that kissing Chloe would feel this amazing? The contented sigh she lets out is apparently enough encouragement for Chloe because now she’s using her teeth to lightly scratch Max’s lips and shit, this feels so good.

Max could probably like get high from just kissing Chloe like this. She moves her hands to thread them through Chloe’s hair, which is much softer and silkier than Max ever expected. They pull apart a while after and the first thing that comes out of her mouth is, “Wowser.”

She feels like a total dweeb for saying that, but Chloe presses a kiss to the side of her mouth and leans their foreheads together. She lets out a deep breath that tickles Max’s nose and they smile at each other. “Nerd.”

On a normal situation Max would feel embarrassed, but Chloe says it with so much affection that Max’s heart swells. Her smile broadens and she gives Chloe a small peck on her lips instead.

Everything feels so natural and normal, like this should have happened ages ago. She realizes that it might have if Max hadn’t left for Seattle and abandoned her best friend, but Max pushes those thoughts out of her head. This moment feels too good to be ruined by her guilt and self-pity.

They just stare at each other for a long time like this, foreheads joined and playful smiles directed at each other. Max hands are down at Chloe’s shoulders, softly and slowly dragging the pad of her right thumb against Chloe’s skin, and Chloe is still tracing circles on the back of Max’s neck.

Max abruptly gets off the bed and Chloe looks at her, confused. She throws a soft “hold on” at Chloe and grabs her camera off Chloe’s desk. When the blue haired girl spots what Max left her hanging for she whines, “Damn it, Caulfield. I was totally going to sweep you off your feet with an awe-inspiring second kiss.”

Max just rolls her eyes and snaps the shot of Chloe. She carefully takes out the film and gives it a shake. When the picture comes out fully, Max smiles. Chloe has the most adorable pout on her face and gosh, Max is never going to let Chloe live for this. Chloe Price pouting? It was unheard of. She quickly puts the photo and the camera in her bag before going back to Chloe, who’s now sitting with her arms crossed and a frown on her face. “I’m hungry.” She announces.

Max smirks at her and bats her eyelashes innocently, “For another kiss?”

Chloe rolls her eyes. “Yes, Max. But also in a ‘my stomach is growling and I really want pancakes’ way.”

Max laughs. “Guess I’ll go change then.”

This time she digs through Chloe’s closet and finds a black T-shirt that has a skull on it and a pair of jeans that has a minimal amount of rips in them. She also successfully finds a red hoodie that looks like it hasn’t been used in months and snatches that and quickly grabs her bag. She figures wearing the clothes of a missing girl, who the girl you just kissed, admitted to having a crush on is a little weird and it feels like disrespecting Rachel somehow.

She can feel Chloe’s eyes watching her when she leaves the room so she turns around and says, “I’m just gonna use your toilet.”

Chloe opens her mouth to say something, but closes it instead and nods. Max can bet her life’s savings that she was going to make some joke about seeing Max naked.

The clothes are a little big on her, but it will do. She kinda likes the way it smells vaguely of Chloe and detergent. And she really likes the hoodie; it’s big and soft and feels very nice on her skin.

When she exits the bathroom, Chloe is fully dressed and leaning outside her door. Her eyes widen a little when she sees Max and she quickly grabs the smaller girl to kiss her once more. This kiss is over much faster than their previous, leaving Max disappointed.

Chloe makes up for it when she softly nibbles Max’s ear and whispers, “You should wear my clothes more often.”

Max shivers at the cool sensation of Chloe’s soft breath blowing against the slightly wet skin she nibbled on earlier. Oh, if only Chloe knew the kind of feelings she’s giving her. Max looks at Chloe, too dazed to say anything, but if the smirk on her face is anything to go by, she definitely knows what she’s doing to Max.

After a peck on the Max’s slightly red cheek, Chloe casually throws her arm around Max’s shoulder and Max snakes her arms around Chloe’s waist. It’s a position they’re both familiar with, something they’ve done since they were kids, but it feels different somehow. More intimate. And they’re both pressed closer than ever, barely leaving any space between them.

As they’re walking down the stairs, Chloe speaks. “So Warren really doesn’t stand a chance anymore, huh?”

Max doesn’t think he ever did. Or ever will. Not if the wonder of a woman that’s Chloe Price exists. Max thinks she should tell Chloe as much, but settles with a, “Doesn’t look like it.”

Chloe laughs and Max follows suit. They’re laughing all the way to the kitchen and Joyce calls them crazy, but Max can tell from the smile on her face that she’s happy for her daughter. Max feels a surge of pride in her chest for being the one to do this to Chloe. In her laughter, Chloe looks so youthful and amazing.

When they’ve calmed down, Joyce tells them that’s she’s just made a batch of pancakes and to dig in.

Max gives a polite, “Thanks, Joyce.” At the same time, Chloe lets out an offhanded, “Thanks, mom.”

They’re both down laughing again and Joyce shakes her head affectionately at the both of them. And if Joyce notices the way the girls are sitting closer to each other than normal, or the glances they keep throwing each other in between mouths of pancakes (“the best pancakes ever” according to Max), Joyce doesn’t say a thing about it.

**Author's Note:**

> also feel free to go through my tumblr [here](http://sapphicalexdanvers.tumblr.com/) and shout about fandoms and give me prompts


End file.
